The Tale of Fritz and Cassandra
by TrinityVex34
Summary: When a WW1 soldier is thrusted into the future by eight-hundred years, he comes across a young woman all by herself. What will happen next? Read to find out! Original Story!
1. Beginnings

The Tale of Fritz and Cassandra

"Life in the State of Nature is nasty, brutish, and short"

-Thomas Hobbes

I woke up in a snowy forest, dark clouds looming over me as I stared back at them, the snowflakes gently landing on my face. As I rose from where I lay, I realized that my body was violently shaking. my mind was racing as I struggled to find a source of heat.

I took in my surroundings, seeing a cloud of smoke rising further into the forest. "I have to get there!" I thought as my feet started to move, pushing me ever closer, the fur boots I had received from my mother as a present helping to keep them warm. My gloves, on the other hand, were worn and torn, not very suitable for warmth. My grey trench coat and iron helmet didn't offer much for warming my head and body either, but I pushed through the biting temperature finding my way to the source of the fire, making sure to keep hold of my Gewehr 98 rifle, Mauser C96 pistol, and my trusty trench club.

A human wearing a heavy fur coat, along with gloves, and boots was currently keeping a large bonfire aflame. There was a large hiking bag next to her with a rolled up sleeping bag strapped to it. "How should I handle this? Am I still alive? I mean the battlefield was snowy, but it was a field, not a forest," I thought as I made my choice.

"Hey, are you ok?" the person turned around, revealing her long, messy, blonde hair, and her ocean blue eyes. She grabbed something from her waist, swinging it at my head. I fell on my back, managing to grab my trench club and take a swing at her. She evaded my attack and got ready to swing the claw hammer she was using into my skull. "I've got to get up!" I thought as I rolled to avoid another swing from her hammer.

I managed to rise from the ground, grabbing a handful of snow and throw it in her face. She blocked the snow, throwing her hammer in retaliation, hitting me in the gut. I groaned in pain as she charged me, pulling out a combat knife and stabbing down at me as I tried to dodge, only to have her sit on me, pinning me to the ground.

"Why won't you just lie down and die!" She screamed, readying for a fatal stab to my heart. I managed to grab her wrists, only slowing down the stab. I managed to lift my leg in front of her face. "What are you do-" was all she could say before I slammed her head into the ground, throwing her entire upper body back onto the ground. She struggled under my hold, eventually managing to wriggle out from it, stabbing my leg in the process. I spun my body around, tackling her to the ground, making sure to keep her restrained as I threw her weapons to the side. "You fucking bastard!" she swore, sending a volley of punches at my face, most them hitting their mark.

"I'm not trying to kill you!" I yelled trying to get her to see reason, but she only saw an enemy. I took the only action I could to leave her alive, I threw my weapons to the ground in front of her. She looked up at me as I held my hands in the air. The woman grabbed my weapons and threw them behind her, keeping her eyes locked on mine as she did so.

"Who are you and why are you here?!" she shouted.

"I'm Fritz Luger, private first class!" I replied. "As for why I'm here, I… don't quite know."

"Sit down over there," she stated, pointing at one of the logs. I did as she said, walking over there slowly so as not to frighten her. I watched as she quickly picked up my rifle and aimed it at my head. "Your dialect, it's from the Old World," she said, continuing to aim my own rifle at me.

"Old World?" I asked, confused as to what she was referring to.

She took a seat on the leg on the opposite side of the bonfire as me, her face seeming to mix with the flames, giving her stern expression an even more menacing look. "By the looks of your weapons and apparel, you must be from the First Great War," she stated.

"What do you mean, First Great War?" I asked, a small tinge of fear spreading throughout my body. I couldn't tell if my hands were shaking from said fear, or from the biting cold.

"There were only two wars that were dubbed 'Great' but they were anything but. You're from the first one, where the entire world was engulfed in a long, four-year war." The woman continued to stare at me through those hellish flames.

"So… there's more war?" I asked, a few tears starting to fall from my eyes.

"Yes. The final war, the Second Great War only took four hours, but it was the most destructive war yet," she said; however, I wasn't listening as the only thing I could think about was the future of my family.

"My little brother… he's going to be drafted. My big sister will have to tend to the maimed and the hopeless, she won't be able to have hope after seeing that! And what of my mother and father!? They won't be able to run their bakery they loved so much!" I shouted, collapsing into the snow, slamming my clenched fists onto the ground.

"Get up, now." The woman said with a stern voice, reminding me of my older sister when she would get frustrated with me when I would cry over a small scratch or cut when I was young. She would always tell me that I need to be strong, if not for myself then for my younger brother.

I sat back onto the log, feeling a dense, guilt filled pit in my stomach. "W-what year is it?" I asked, almost fearing the answer.

"Twenty-seven thirty-five," She answered, the pit in my stomach only growing in size.

"I get it, this is all some sort of elaborate joke! You must be a friend of my sister Gretel!" I said as I stood up a wide smile on my face.

"Sit. The fuck. Down," the woman ordered, tightening her grip on my rifle.

"I'm sorry my sister put you up to this, but I've found out the jo-" I said before the woman sent a bullet inches above my shoulder, missing my neck by half an inch. I stood there, as still as a statue. "So, this is all real? And you're telling the truth?" I asked, my cheeks being soaked with my tears.

"Yes. Now sit down," she ordered, her sternness reminding me of my drill sergeant. I did as she said. All I could do was stare at the snow, the look of the woman's stern face starting to truly scare me, so I decided to look down. I heard her making some noise, but I just continued to stare at the ground. When the noise had stopped, I looked up as the woman motioned to a log in between us that now had a hot bowl of soup and a wooden spoon sitting there. "If you're hungry, you can have that, but if you do anything shifty, I won't hesitate to gun you down, understand?" I nodded my head as I slowly got up from the log and picked up the soup. I had a few spoonful's, but there was no taste, just a bland taste.

I finished up my dinner and decided to go to sleep, parting some snow so I could lie down. The sound of the fire snapping and crackling the only thing that managed to lull me into a deep sleep. My mind drifted off to the last memory of my father.

"Father, I'm going to war!" I said with enthusiasm.

"Why, Fritz?! Why would you willingly go to fight in the war?" my father asked me as I stood there with a sad look on my face.

"Because if I didn't join, then they would've drafted you father. I know how much you hated fighting, so decided to take your place."

"Ok. Please, don't get killed out there, take whatever position you can in the rear echelons, never go to the frontlines, do you understand?!" he asked, shaking me by the shoulders.

"Yes father! I will…"

I awoke the next morning to the woman poking me in the face with my Gewehr 98. "Get up, Fritz!" she ordered. It took a few moments until I realized that my encounter with this young woman wasn't a dream, but real life.

"What are you doing this early in the morning? the sun hasn't even risen," I asked.

"You asked me last night if I was lying, right?"

I rubbed my eyes as I got up. "Yea…"

"Well if you want your proof start walking," she ordered, poking me in the back with my rifle.

I did as she said, and started walking. "So, what was the last thing you remember before you came here?" she asked.

"I'll answer your question if you tell me your name," I shot back.

"Fine. The name's Cassandra. Now answer my question."

I sighed, trying to remember what I could. "I remember our commanding officer ordered us to charge the opposing trench, the man to my left got his leg blown off by a mine, the guy to my right was gunned down, and just as I reached the trench, a portal appeared inches in front of me, and before I could stop, I ran into it."

"That sounds about right," Cassandra said, as we continued to walk.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not the only one to come from the past. The previous ruler of the Schneemänner was from the past, as well as the current mayor of New Berlin," Cassandra stated, still keeping aim at me. We kept on walking until we arrived at a ruined town, the buildings crumbing, the street cracked and fractured, vehicles I had never seen before were immobile and rusted. The entire place felt like a ghost town. I had encountered plenty of towns like these during the war, no civilians, just empty houses, ruined farms, and broken markets.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"How long as it been abandoned?" I asked, feeling the pit in my stomach grow.

"Well since the nukes fell at about twenty eighty, I'd guess about six-hundred years, give or take. Keep moving," she said, poking me once more with my rifle.

The sound of screaming and gunshots were heard deeper into the town, and Cassandra dragged me behind a building. "I get it back when we're done fighting, understand?" she hissed as she handed me my rifle and trench club.

"Sure, you can keep my Mauser, if it makes you feel safe," I replied, hooking my club onto my belt.

"You're going first. We're clearing this town street by street; I'll cover your back. If you decided to strand me here, I'll shoot you dead, understand?" she whispered. I nodded my head as I crept around the corner, slowly creeping down the broken street. The voices and gun shots got louder every house I passed. As I got closer I heard my heart pumping faster as adrenaline began to run through my veins. Just as I was moving to the next street, I heard a man shout out "Hey! We got another scavenger! Get him boys!" he shouted as he aimed his pistol at me, and his two subordinates ran after me. I ran to the nearest corner, sliding behind a still standing wall as I felt a bullet graze my shoulder. The pain was quick as the adrenaline continued to rush through me.

I took a kneeling stance at took aim at the point where my foes would make themselves known. "Get ready to fight! Found three of them, two pursued while the third stayed back!" I shouted as Cassandra nodded in response, aiming her newly acquired pistol at the same place I was. The two men rounded the corner, the first one receiving a bullet from my Gewehr 98 to the heart. The second man ran behind cover, realizing our trap.

Cassandra snuck up to me and whispered something in my ear. "I'm going to flank these guys. Stay here and gun them down if they advance, got it?" I nodded as she crept around the ruined houses without a sound. As I stayed there, waiting for our foe to make the next move, I began to think about the choices I could make. "I could leave her here to die. She gave me back my rifle and trench club, and I don't know what she intends to do to me. I should run and never look back!" My conscious began to combat those thoughts, making sure to keep me in check. "What on earth are you thinking?! Leaving a young woman like that all alone in this snowy hell-scape? Are you a monster? You're a man! So act like one and don't run away from your problems like you did with the bakery! She needs a man to protect her!" I couldn't choose. If I wanted to get back home I would need to find a way back, and I couldn't do that if I have this lady pointing my gun at my back every day. I gave a heavy sigh as I made my choice.

"Fritz! Where are you?!" I shouted as I was cornered by the two men. They had managed to disarm me and now had backed me up into a corner. "Just like my family… gone," I thought as a tear rolled down my face. "This is it, my life is no longer mine." "Please, just don't be too rough with me," I begged, just hoping that they would leave me alive after they were finished.

The goon aimed his rifle at my head while the boss slammed his hand on the wall behind me. "Now, don't cry little missy. I won't make you hurt… that much!" he laughed, grabbing my hair and throwing me to the ground. My mind flashed back to an old memory that I had tried so hard to forget.

"Dad, what are you doing?!" I shouted as my father entered my room, ill intent in his eyes as did an unspeakable deed. By the time he finished I was crying to heavily that my blankets and sheets were soaked in my tears.

Just as I thought that I would be violated, a shot rang out in the cold, dirty air. It ripped through the leader's head, his large, bulbous body slamming onto the ground. Another shot shredded the neck of the lackey, who collapsed onto the hard, concrete below him, breaking his arm as he clutched his neck. I looked up to find non-other than Fritz standing atop a roof of one of the buildings that made up the alleyway.

"F-fritz?" I asked, wiping away a few tears from my eyes in an attempt to look strong in front of him. "If he sees me like this he'll think I'm weak and leave me," I thought as he climbed down to join me.

"Here, I think you wanted this back," Fritz said as he handed me back his rifle.

"Thanks," I mumbled as I slung it over my shoulder. "Where were you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, staring into his emerald green eyes.

"Getting a better vantage point. I knew I couldn't leave unprotected, so I went higher and managed to spot you just in time," he said.

"Well, let's pick up whatever these guys were carrying," I said as I picked up some ammunition and a small caliber revolver, handing it to Fritz. "I hope I can trust you with this," I said.

"You can," he replied as I led him throughout the town. I watched as the realization slowly dawned on him that he wasn't in his world anymore. I could see the tears welling up in his eyes, the last shreds of hope began to escape him as he fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands as tears dripped down from his face. I walked up to him, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder as he continued to cry. I felt a tinge of guilt begin to grow in my stomach as we went on our way to the next area.

"Hey Fritz," I asked as I walked beside him. "What was it like in the trenches?" I noticed him stiffen up when I asked him. "If you don't want to-"

"No. It would be better if I got it off my back, might make being here a bit easier," he said as he turned to me, a look of fear and horror on his face as he talked about his time in them. "It was horrific, men with their limbs blown off, others with diseases killing off even more. The moans of the dying will always be drilled into my mind." he said as he continued his tale. "I remember one of my friends had a case of trench foot so bad they had to amputate the entire leg. I remember during a charge through no-man's-land seeing both men to the left and right of me being blown up by mines. Another time when we were defending our frontline, I remember hearing loud booms in the distance, then feeling ground shake like an earthquake as my fellow soldiers were flung up into the air, our ammo supply cache's ripping the trenches apart as I ran for cover. When I crawled out of cover, I noticed that only three other men were alive. I never want to go back to the battlefield," he finished, looking up at me with sorrowful eyes.

"He looks so sad," I thought as the guilt began to grow in my stomach. "If he doesn't do anything shifty by noon tomorrow, then I'll get a bit closer to him, I'm sure he's feeling lonely." He didn't speak much at dinner and dug another hole to sleep in like a snow rabbit digging a burrow. I watched his sleeping form for a while, his long, messy black hair obscuring his eyes, which were made of an enamoring dark violet coloration. "He's kinda cute," I thought as I went to sleep, cuddling up in my sleeping bag, the warmth wrapping around me as the night turned darker and I could hear the snow wolves howling in the distance.

My mind raced about how life in The First Great War must have been as I drifted off into sleep, the mud and gore strewn about the battlefield. I looked closer in my dream to see a mud-covered Fritz kneeling in no-man's-land, looking up at the sky as crows circled over his head, squawking angrily.

"Fritz! What are you doing over there? Come with me!" I shouted as I noticed some men from the other trench line charging in our direction.

He turned his head to face me, revealing a confused look on his face. "Who are you?" he asked.

"He doesn't remember me?!" I thought as I stood there, the men getting closer and closer. "I have to save him!" I thought as I sprinted over to Fritz, dragging him along over to the ruined trenches, broken wood scattered around the trench and rotting corpses still clinging onto their weapons with their clenched, cold, dead hands.

Two men hopped in after us. Sharp bayonets pointed at us as I grabbed a pistol and dispatched my foe, however when I turned to see Fritz, he was already run through by the other soldier. I shot that one down too as my body moved on its own as I ran to his side. "Why do I care about him so much!?" I thought as I started to ask him a question that was burning a hole in my mind. "Why aren't you fighting?" I asked.

"Because I'm grieving. Because I'm trying to die, I don't want to live in a world of war and violence. Why can't you let me die?" he asked, his violet orbs staring back at me.

Then I started to cry, the full, vivid memory of my father and the rest of my family casting me out. They had a choice, have my father exiled for committing the heinous sin of incest, or have me exiled. They chose me, and now here I am. I remember crying as the guards threw me out of New Berlin. I looked over my shoulder, seeing my entire family with a Cheshire grin of betrayal on all of their faces. I couldn't let him leave me too, I couldn't be alone again. It was unbearable, the solitary life that killed me from the inside out.

However, when I saw him, all I could see was a foe, a danger, a threat to my life, and granted he very well could have been, but in truth, was a kind soul. His kind, the warm, caring person was a kind of person I had almost forgotten about. Another memory began to emerge, that of a kind young boy.

I was about seven years old and being chased by some neighborhood bullies as I walked home from school. I had accidentally spilled some water on their leader, and so the troop of girls made a plan to ambush me as I exited the schoolhouse. I ran as fast as I could, not wanting to fall victim to their violent tendencies. Just as I rounded the corner, I saw another one of her cohorts, the girl tackling me to the ground swinging her fists in my face. I fought back for a few moments before my arms and legs were held down by the others.

"Please let me go!" I begged, but they refused to grant me such a request. Instead the top girl started to pummel me as well. Just as I thought my unjust punishment was inevitable, a boy about ten years old ran out of one of the houses, pulling the girls off of me.

"Run!" he shouted as he covered me as I ran back to my house.

"Cassandra! Cassandra! Get up, its morning!" Fritz whispered as he woke me. I opened my eyes, noticing his ripped and tattered gloves as I stretched out my arms with a yawn.

"Fritz," I said, getting his attention as he looked over his shoulder. "What's with your gloves?"

"Oh, these?" he asked holding them up.

"Yea. Why don't you throw them away? They're so ripped up and tattered," I replied as I helped him cook breakfast.

"Well… they were made by my mother! They were a good luck gift for me on the battlefield. I intend to get them patched up once I can find the right materials," he explained with a small smile. "There's something I want to do to before we move on. Are there any type of flowers that grow in the cold?" he asked, a determined look on his face.

"Yea, I saw a patch of thermations over there," I answered, pointing at a patch of dark blue flowers by a nearby tree.

"Thermations?" he asked, a bit confused.

"They're like carnations, but instead of being red, they're that shade of blue that the part of the word hypothermia comes from," I explained as he nodded and pick them as took an axe we had gathered from the abandoned town and started to chop down a small tree into eight planks. From there I watched as he created four wooden grave markers with each of his family members' name on it. Hansel, Gretel, Paul, and Anna. He then placed a few of the thermations at the head of each of the graves. I continued to watch as he said a short prayer for each of them. "I hope he feels better now…" I thought as I served him some hot broth. We consumed it silently, letting the cold winds speak instead.

I took a deep breath, followed by a heavy sigh as I broke the silence. "You really cared for your family, so much so to dig them each a grave," I stated.

"Yes. How much do you care for your family?" he asked.

"You're not going to let up on this, are you?" I inquired, seeing him shake his head.

"If we're going to be traveling together, I'd like to know more about you," he reasoned.

I gave a huff before indulging him in his curiosities. "I hate them. They betrayed not only my trust with them as a person, but both my siblings and parents betrayed my trust. They stood by as something awful happened to me, and when it was either they be expelled or me, they chose me. So there, you happy?!" I lashed out, releasing all of the pent-up anger I had building up inside of me ever since I was exiled from New Berlin.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that…" Fritz said as he looked down at the ground in shame for prying.

I took a deep, calming breath as I looked back at him. "I shouldn't have yelled at him. If anyone can understand how I might feel, he certainly can," I thought as I walked over to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to strike out at you like that," I said.

"I forgive you. It must be awful though… to be betrayed by the ones who should be protecting you," he said, a look of sorrow on his face. "So, where are we going?" he asked, forcing a smile on his face, probably trying to make me feel a bit better.

"To somewhere safe, and out of reach of New Berlin," I replied, starting the long walk to nowhere. I heard Fritz catch up to me, the crunching of his boots in the snow and his equipment clinking and clanking. I felt oddly lonely, looking over my shoulder to make sure Fritz was still following behind. He was.

We eventually reached an abandoned bunker nestled in the snow as if it was burying its head in the snow, only its upper face visible. Fritz walked up to the door, turning the door handle, however it was locked. I looked around, finding a computer terminal that was linked to the thick, metal doors. I punched in the command to open them, and they did, the old metal creaking as the doors slowly parted. We hurried inside and quickly shut the doors, making sure that the entry could not be filled with snow.

"Ah, that feels nice," Fritz said as he took off his trench coat and gloves, rubbing his hands together for warmth, then putting the palms of his hands onto his cheeks.

I felt the warmth emanating from deeper within the bunker, baiting both Fritz and I to go deeper. "Hey Fritz! Slow down!" I said, taking off my own gloves and jacket, following after my companion. I found him staring at a large, circular, metallic gate that had only a few feet of space in-between it and the concrete wall. There was a computer on a desk near the door. I watched as he reached his hand out to it in an almost trance-like state. "Damnit! Get away from that!" I shouted as I grabbed him by the collar. He seemed to snap out of his trance when I touched him.

"Cassandra?" he asked, a bit confused.

"Don't touch that thing until we know what it is, ok?"

Fritz nodded as he got up and watched me access the computer. I opened countless documents, the last one having a striking heading. Personnel Time Transfer Program. "What's that?" Fritz asked, looking over my shoulder from behind.

"I think… this is what brought you here, into my time," I said, my hair standing on end. I continued to read the document, the final thing that stood out to me was the mention of a way to go back in time. I quickly deleted the document before Fritz could read the final segment.

"I think that's enough for today, I think we earned some food," I said as I quickly grabbed Fritz's hand, dragging him to a nearby kitchen. I felt his rough, calloused palms rub up against my soft, gentle ones. His fingers were the same, the tough mandibles wrapping around my hand as he walked along with me. "I can't let him leave! If he knew he could go back, he would leave me!" I thought as Fritz turned to me with a concerned look on his face. "Cassandra are you ok?" he asked, slowly releasing his hand from mine. I squeezed his hand tightly in response, not wanting him to go.

"I-I'm fine. Let's cook some food, please?" I begged.

"You don't seem fine to me," he replied.

Those words. Those words were the straw that broke the camel's back, the dam broke and I collapsed onto the wooden floor tears flowing from my eyes. I could feel Fritz looming over me, his presence unmoving. "Fritz! Go away!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, illogical anger filling my mind. I heard him kneeling down next to me as he wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"I'll be here for you," he whispered as he stayed there, waiting until I was finished. I looked up at him, he was still there. He hadn't left me, he had stayed by my side. I smiled, giving him a peck on the cheek as we both ate our lunch in a cheery silence, and both retreated to bed.

"You know… this is a lot better than sleeping in the snow," Fritz said with a chuckle as he climbed into his bed.

"Definitely," I replied as I tried to go to sleep.

I woke up the next morning, feeling a bit of extra warmth near my stomach. When I lifted the blanket, I found Cassandra tightly wrapping her arms around my body. "She must have been scared to sleep alone," I thought as I managed to fenagle myself out of her grasp and replacing myself with a big, soft, fluffy pillow. I walked barefoot to the room with the large metal gate. "I'm so sorry, Cassandra. I know what this is… A way to go home," I thought as I fired up the portal, setting the date to 1918. I stood in front of the portal, the image of my home town displayed in front of me as the people were going throughout their day. I heard frantic footsteps from behind me, and I took a step forward.

"Fritz! Please don't go!" Cassandra pleaded as I heard her start into a cry.

"Cassandra… please don't make this harder than it is…"

"I'm sorry for all I've done to you, so please don't leave me! I'm so lonely, If-If you leave I don't know what I'd do here. You've given me so much to live for!"

"Like what?" I asked, refusing to face her, as I too were starting to cry. Despite being with her for only a few days, I had become emotionally attached to her. My older sister always told me it was a sign of my kindness, as I would get very quickly attached to my friends and fellow soldiers too.

"The company. I'd been so alone after my family abandoned me, that when you found me I was so happy. I had found someone who would care for me, look after me, and not abandon me. But it looks like I was wrong…" She sounded so defeated, so… lost. She had finished crying and slowly began to walk back to the bedroom.

I took my trench club and bashed the computer to a circuit and metallic mess, the portal shutting down for good. "Fritz?" she asked, looking over her shoulder. "You… destroyed the portal! You can't go home now! Didn't you want to go back?!" she asked.

"Yes… but," I said as I turned to face her, a sad smile on my face. "I couldn't leave you alone either," I said as joined her in bed, and we slept the day away.

That was just the beginning of our life, and many adventures, in the Wasteland of Snow.


	2. Further On

Cassandra and I had been living in the bunker for about three months now, exiting it every two weeks to go hunting in the surrounding woods, stocking up on fresh meat, and gathering nuts and berries around the bunker. As we cooked and ate, Cassandra would teach me about the history and new technology of this time. She would lecture while I asked, statements, questions, and answers. We had also managed to find a heavy arsenal deeper in the bunker by the living quarters, there was even an in-door range, which Cassandra and I would test out the newly found weapons in. I grew a liking to a bolt-action, high caliber rifle with a magnified scope, and an underrail which I attached a beyonete too.

I was lying in my bed, with Cassandra lying on top of me with her arms constricted around me and her long blonde hair sprawled across the bed. Her left arm was wrapped around my head and her hand was weaved into my messy, long, black hair. The other hand was holding onto mine, our fingers intertwined; her head was resting on my collarbone, her gentle breaths brushing up against my neck. It was a habit she had taken up when we started sleeping in the same bed as me; Whenever she had a nightmare or night terror, she would comb through my hair while wrapping her other arm around my torso and her breaths would increase in frequency as she would shift in her sleep.

"Hmmmmm, so warm," Cassandra mumbled as she shifted under the covers, pulling more over the two of us, giving us more warmth and comfort. I dozed off, enjoying the little bit of extra sleep.

I was woken up by a frantic Cassandra, shaking me awake with panic in her eyes. "Fritz! There's people in the bunker!" she whispered as I noticed she was rightly gripping her trusty Mauser.

"Ok…" I said as I climbed out of bed, grabbing my trench club. "Did you get a good look at them?" I asked, only for Cassandra to nod her head as she peeked around the corner, before grabbing her tactical knife in her free hand. "What about numbers, how many voices did you hear?"

"Three, but there has to be at least five of them. I also heard them talking about looking for the arsenal," she said.

"Ok, we should head down there quickly," I advised as I grabbed my rifle, attaching a bayonet

"No. We can ambush them at the entrance of the bunker. Give them a false sense of safety, then blitz them. If we hit them hard enough, we shouldn't have any injuries if we kill them off swiftly," Cassandra said as she led me through the corridors. We reached the exit to the bunker. There was a final turn before reaching the final, short hall that led to the outside. It was here that we would strike our ambush. We waited for them to come into our sights before blowing them to hell. The first rounded the corner and promptly had two bullets pierce through his skull. His now dead body fell to the ground tripping two more of the men, the first of which was stabbed by Cassandra's blades in the neck. The second one's jugular was cut by my bayonet as I slashed it.

Three more rounded the corner, and I shot one through the heart as he fell to the ground. The remaining two charged Cassandra, who stabbed another in the gut with her combat knife. The two of us pinned the remaining intruder to the ground, disarming him and preventing him from moving.

"Who the fuck are you? What were you doing here?!" Cassandra shouted as her hands wrapped around his throat, applying a bit of pressure to his adam's apple.

"I'm a sergeant with the New Berlin expeditionary force, we were scouting for possible outpost when we found the bunker!" he choked out.

"Did you tell New Berlin that you found this place?!" Cassandra asked.

"No!" he quickly replied.

"So we can let him live?" I asked.

"No. If he comes back alone, something will seem wrong, and the New Berlin military will be searching for who did this," Cassandra replied.

"W-wait! I'll lie and say we were attacked by white claws!" the sergeant tried to get on my partner's good side.

"White claw?" I asked, confused by the terminology.

"Massive irradiated polar bears that migrated from the northern lands," Cassandra answered.

"Oh. Well we could do that," I said as I detached the beyonete. "We could cut up his clothes and give him some cuts on the arm so it's believable," I said, aiming the blade at one of his arms.

"That sounds like a good idea," Cassandra said with a cheshire grin as she aimed down at the man's other arm.

"Just make sure not to go too deep, he might bleed out." I said, trying to be gentle with the man.

Once we were finished, I sent the man on his way as he ran off in terror. "Hey Fritz," Cassandra said as she was cooking dinner later that day. "How long do you think we have?"

"Hmm. I'd say about fifty to sixty years if we keep ourselves he-"

"Not that you dumbass!" Cassandra shouted in frustration. "Until New Berlin finds us I mean."

"Oh. That. Well, my guess would be this: he's already reached New Berlin, depending on how bureaucratic they are, two to three days until there's a formal report filed, and maybe a few more days until they asses the report and decide what to do. If the guy ratted us out, then we have about a day or two more on top of all of that," I guessed as I chopped the unions.

"So about a week," Cassandra replied, dicing the tomatoes with master level proficiency.

"Yup. We've got a week to prepare for a possible New Berlin invasion," I said as we finished up the preparation for the entree.

Cassandra gave an audible sigh as she started to brew herself a cup of joe. "Fritz… do you think we'll get out of this one alive?" she asked, fear and trepidation in her voice as she stared at the coffee machine.

I walked over to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, she leaned her head on my shoulder. "We'll be fine," I said, trying to reassure her.

"But will we? We only found this bunker by chance. What if we're not so lucky this time and as we are sleeping in the wild, we're killed by predators? Or even worse, what if we're sepera-"

"We'll be fine," I said again, this time more insistent, my grip tightening around her.

"I… I just don't want to die… without you," she said, wrapping _her_ arm around my waist, tightly gripping my torso.

"Don't worry, I'm here to stay," I said as we held close to each other. "And I have _no_ intention of dying," I stated with a stern tone. "Now let's finish cooking, I'd hate for all of this wonderful food to go to waste!"

We ate dinner together, enjoying the marinated meats with caramelized onions, grilled peppers, and a delicious sweet sauce that draped over the food. As we ate, Cassandra started to speak to me about something that never crossed my mind.

"Fritz, if you want… you can call me Cass. It would be more efficient when we're communicating and fighting."

I nodded as I took another forkful of my food. "That sounds good by me," I said after eating another bite. "There's something _I_ need to ask you," I said, looking into Cass' eyes. "What if we were to join New Berlin? Would you join me, or leave me if I tried to do that?"

She stared back at me, mulling over the answer she would give in her mind. Cassandra looked away, then back at me, then away again, before finally giving her answer. "I'd be by your side, but only because I can trust you. What is it you intend to do in New Berlin?" she asked back.

"Get employment so we could earn some money so we can build a home of our own. Once we have a home, then we can live a quiet life together. And if you want… we could build our own family."

"There's just one problem with that plan of yours…" Cass replied as she took a sip of her water.

"You have no clue how to get into New Berlin, and luckily you have _me_ help you with that," Cass replied as she got up from her seat and scurried off to another room. She quickly returned with a map of the area that appeared to be hand-drawn. She put it down on the table, spreading it out to the very edge, pointing to a single dot in the middle of the map. "This is where we are," Cassandra said, then she moved her finger to another dot on the map. "And this is where New Berlin is."

"That's… all the way to the corner of the map," I said in awe as I took a sip of warm milk.

"Yea, its a two day journey if we go on foot, but should only take a day at most if we had a horse-drawn vehicle," she said. "Which means we'll have to camp out in the wilds again. Are you up for that?" she asked.

"I should be fine, so long as I have the right equipment and supplies," I said with a chuckle, rustling her hair.

She swatted my hand away in annoyance, walking off to bed. "If you plan on staying up late, don't forget to turn off the light, ok?"

I waved her concerns to the side. "Yea, I'll do that," I said, getting some time to myself as I took a seat and sipped my milk, enjoying the warm drink. I began to grow drowsy as my eyelids started to flutter and submitted to my mind as I fell asleep. As I shook myself awake I noticed there was a shadow looming over me as a certain someone gave an irritated huff.

"What did I say about turning off the light?" Cass asked with her arms crossed, and her brow furrowed.

"I'm sorry, I just dozed off," I said with a nervous chuckle.

She gave a relieved sigh as she slipped her fingers in between mine, leading me to bed. "Lets just sleep, we have a lot to do in the morning," she said as we both climbed into bed, draping the heavy wool covers over us. We both fell into a deep slumber, the soreness of our muscles and bones began to wash away as we were taken to a land of rest.

I woke up before Fritz, his short messy hair sprawling out across the bedding. I climbed out of bed and grabbed a cup of cold water, splashing some onto my face to fully wake me up. I blinked a few times before looking up into the mirror. My ocean blue eyes stared back at me, a sea of thought and worry contained within them. I combed my long blonde hair, rolling it up into a bun. I had taken up this hairdue a few days ago so my hair wouldn't get in the way of cooking and hunting. I can't remember how many times I've had a deer in my sights, and just before I make the shot some hair gets in my way.

I heard Fritz's sleeping form rustle under the blankets as he continued to sleep. "_I hope he's not having a nightmare, he's been having quite a few lately,"_ I thought as I finished up brushing my teeth. I walked back over to the bed, sitting on the side of it, staring into the grey, metallic wall. I weaved my fingers through his hair, a small smile appeared on his face as he slept. "We need to get you better at hunting," I said out loud, thinking back to our most recent hunting trip.

The air was cold and dry, and we were hunting some big game, Scarlet Foxes to be exact. For him, he would have referred to them as giant red foxes, a smaller version of the predator we were hunting. However they were some extreme dangers while hunting such a predator, one such danger being that humans are among its prey. It was one of the first things I thought Fritz when we got settled in the bunker, he had to know about the animals and their dangers.

"Hey Fritz, remember what I taught you," I whispered as he took aim with his newly acquired Remmington model 700 BDL rifle. He was alright when it came to handling the thing, but he hadn't quite gotten used to its light frame compared to his Gewehr 98. He took aim at the Scarlet Fox and fired, pulling back the bolt, loading another bullet into the chamber. The first bullet ricocheted off of a nearby tree a few feet from the fox. It turned its head and charged us, baring its large, three inch fangs as it got closer. I aimed my Mauser at it, firing multiple shots near its head. Two bullets shot into its shoulders, three more impacted its ears, and the last one hitting its forward right foot. It leapt at us with its tooth-filled maw opened, ready to bite into us.

"Duck!" Fritz shouted as he grabbed his beyonetted Gewehr and speared upwards through the creature's upper jaw, the tip of the beyonete poking out from the top of its skull. It struggled for a few minutes before succumbing to its wounds. Fritz lowered the corpse down to Cassandra's level as they carried the body back to the bunker.

"Fritz, how could you miss that shot?" I asked as I draped the front paws over my shoulder.

"I don't know. Maybe the rifle was just _too_ light for me, I mean I'm used to the weight of my Gewehr so I must have been compensating for the lack of weight," Fritz reasoned as he took the back half of the Scarlet Fox.

"Hey, you alright? It looks like you're spacing out," Fritz said as I snapped out of that memory and to the present. I looked up to see Fritz leaning over me with a warm smile.

"Naw, I'm good, I was just remembering the time you fucked up that Scarlet Fox kill," I said with a chuckle as I gave a playful flick to his cheek.

"Well, I can say with confidence that I've gotten better at that!" he said with another one of his happy smiles. I snickered in response, shielding my open mouth with my hands, trying to keep the water I drank prior from escaping from my mouth and nose. Once I finished my laughter, I got up and grabbed my gear. I had made some upgrades to my equipment, starting with adding a more protective layer to my grieves, and also putting on some steel plates onto my bracers. I had found a crossbow that I had become quite fond of as well as an UMP 45, however I wouldn't be bringing that weapon on a hunting trip. I made sure to grab my combat knife and Mauser, as Fritz grabbed his Webley and trench club, along with his trusty beyonetted Gewehr.

We trudged through the snow, making small-talk along the way. "So what sort of things did you do as a kid?" I asked, looking up at his short, messy hair as he cobbled up a response.

"Well, we would grab sticks from the forest and play knight. I remember fighting against my childhood friend Hans, I would win from time to time, but he won most bouts."

"What do you think he's doing now?" I asked.

"Sleeping… six feet under. He joined me in the trenches, but as we slept, some dough boys snuck into our barracks and began silently killing us. I was lucky as I woke up just as Hans was being killed. I managed to fight off the infiltrators and delay Hans' death, however when I was done fighting them I ran to my brethren's side," Fritz replied.

"He died, didn't he?" I asked.

"Yea, his last words stuck with me ever since."

"What were they?"

"Don't die," Fritz answered staring down at her with a jaded look on my face, before quickly changing it back to my positive appearance.

"Good advice," I said with a small smirk as we reached the hunting grounds. We made it a point to never hunt within a ten minute's walk radius from the bunker. That we we wouldn't over hunt, and make sure the amount of prey we got was enough for us to carry back. Our prey would be the Scarlet Fox once more; they were known for having an extremely high number of offspring.

"I'm ready, are you?" Fritz asked, pulling out his favored Gewehr as he adjusted the telescopic scope atop the rifle and looked over my Webley while I looked over my newly acquired crossbow and Mauser. We both gave a thumbs-up after a few minutes of looking over our things as we went deeper into The Wilds. It only took a few minutes for us to spot our prey, the prized Scarlet Fox. We took aim at its head, the large cranium serving as a more than adequate target of our fire. I aimed down the scope of my crossbow, looking to get a clean, instant killshot with the barbed crossbow bolt. I took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger, only for the four foot tall fox to move at the last moment, getting instead hit in the rear right leg. It looked up at us, then ran in the opposite direction, wanting to flee rather than fight.

"Shit! It's getting away!" I shouted as Fritz and I shot up from our prone positions and started to pursue the injured beast. It fled deeper into the wilds, the creature only being able to slip through the thick line of trees by leaping through the thin gaps of trees while twisting its abdomen so it could pass through said gaps. Fritz and I had to vault over and slide under the thick, enthralling branches of the forests. Despite my heavy winter clothing, I could still feel the cold wind whipping around my cheeks, feeling as if it were cutting in my flesh. I looked over to Fritz to see him bulldozing through the extreme cold, only for him to look over his shoulder to check up on me.

"Cassandra! Are you ok?" he shouted as the soft snow of the Outer Ring of the Wilds which turned into powerful snowstorms and audible, powerful winds of the Inner Ring of the Wilds.

"Yea! I'm good!" I shouted back as I caught up to him. We continued our stalking of the wounded animal.

"Hey Cass, I lost the blood trail…" Fritz said in defeat as he gave a heavy sigh.

"That's to be expected in such heavy precipitation, now let's keep going!" I shouted back at him, trying to keep him in good spirits. He seemed to perk up at my encore and so we continued our chase, eventually finding the enormous fox lying in its burrow. Fritz and I took aim just as it looked up at us, this time taking a predatory leap towards us, only for a larger predatory beast to jump out of nowhere and clamp down on the Scarlet Fox's neck with its immensely powerful jaw. "A… European Terror…" I said in shock as the five foot tall European Badger dug its curved claws into the body of the Scarlet Fox as it squirmed under its grasp. The fox bared its fangs, biting into one of the European Terror's legs, an audible crunch could be heard as the Scarlet Fox's fangs were chipped off when they came in contact with the fur of the gigantic badger.

"W-What is that thing!?" Fritz asked in terror as he tightly gripped his rifle.

"A European Terror, or as you'd know it, an enormous version of the European Badger. As for why the Scarlet Fox's teeth were broken is because its fur is tough enough to deflect small arms fire from pistols and unrifled long arms."

"So there's no way we can kill it…" Fritz responded with a dire look on his face.

"Yea, we should run," I advised. As we began to turn tail and run, the sound of the European Terror snapping the Scarlet Fox's neck with a crack. It then turned to face the two of us, slamming down trees as it started to run after us. "God damnit! Why is it running after us?!" I shouted as Fritz and I cut through the Inner Ring towards the Outer Ring. As we got closer, the Terror's movements started to get more and more wild as it continued its pursuit of us. After running for a few minutes, we reached the Outer Ring, sun cracking through its canopy and the violent blizzard from the Inner Ring shifted to a windy snowstorm.

Just as we thought we had lost it, the European Terror lunged at Fritz, who instinctively blocked the opened maw with his left arm, the creature biting down on his arm as he screamed in pain, he grabbed his Webley, firing all six rounds into the Terror's right eye, the creature only biting down harder in pain. I quickly pulled out my crossbow, firing a bolt into the thing's nose, the steel bolt only piercing half and inch into its flesh.

It only barred down tighter on Fritz's arm as he yanked his trench club from his hilt and began to deliver a relentless flurry of blows to the creature's mouth. Nothing seemed to work, until a large axe was sent flying in the Terror's direction, the sheer force of the throw allowing the axe the go halfway through the creature's shoulder. Another one was sent flying at the European Terror, hitting it in the back of the head, the creature finally dropping dead.

I looked over to the source of the thrown axes, only to find a seven foot tall man clad entirely in steel plate armor and a girl no older than sixteen in an elegant dress with her hair fashioned into twin drills on each side of her head, her caramel skin glistening in the sunlight.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here, a mystery man teamed up with a stone-cold killer," the youngest of House Händlerin said as her companion brandished a two handed war axe. "You must be Cassandra Whitlock," she snorted, glaring me down.

"And what if I am?" I asked, glancing over to Fritz, who was trying to stay conscious as he treated his wounds.

"Then… I'll take you under my employ," Eisen Händlerin said with a confident smirk, then looking over at Fritz. She snapped her fingers and the seven-foot tall man walked over and picked up Fritz.

"What are you going to do with him?" I hissed, my anger starting to creak through to the surface.

"I'm going give him proper medical treatment. Well… not _me_ but someone under me will," Eisen said as she turned her back to me, looking over her shoulder. "So, are you going to join us, or not?"

I sighed as I followed her at a distance, keeping Fritz within eyesight as we walked to New Berlin.


End file.
